My name is Joe, and yes, I do blow stuff up for a living. I love my job!

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Why I think Church On The Way will be around for 100 more years...

For those of you who have been following along with Pastor Billy's blog, I've had an ongoing debate with him regarding how appropriate it was of Rick Warren to have Sen. Obama on the pulpit to "raise awareness" for the AIDS crisis.

Pastor Billy claims that it was simply a senator who cares raising awareness.

I make the claim that it was Mr. Obama's way of stumping for his presidential run. Especially considering that he hasn't been overly vocal about the fact that the new Congress is not funding what they promised for AIDS research. I further make the claim that the real way to get the AIDS crisis dealt with is for the church to quietly go about doing it without needing the fanfare and hoopla with politics.

I've always been told to judge any action by the fruit it produces. As a result of Mr. Obama's appearance on the pulpit, people who would have helped to fund the AIDS crisis are now bound up in political debates regarding the church. The focus has been removed from the potential to help people. If Mr. Obama was really concerned, I would suggest he partner with Rick Warren in a non photo-op moment.

Another on-going debate with Pastor has been the discussion about Sudan/Darfur.

He makes the claim that because it isn't in the media daily, we are the "arrogant, overfed, and unconcerned west".

Both the problem, and the solution are being dealt with quietly. Personally, my solution would involve the use of massive amounts of ordnance, but that's not the "Christian" way to do things, I guess...

So you may be wondering where/why the title comes into play:

I visited my old home Church, "Church On The Way", and what do I find out on the tithe envelope?

With ethics like these, I believe God will continue to bless the little Church that could, now can, and does.

Places like COTW are examples of what make me proud to be from the west. We are doing things that no other country in the world can do, and are blessing people as we are able. May people like Pastors Tolle and Hayford continue to define the heart and generosity of the western church.